I'm in my last semester of PTA (physical therapy assistant) school and have clinicals starting in August. I'm seriously considering pelvic health as my wheelhouse. I worked my butt off to get this far, and the stress has been heavy. BUT... funny thing - NO pelvic pain since I beat it completely in early 2017.
That's right guys - I'm cured. I'll never have it again. How did I beat it?
There were several tools in the toolbox being used over a 2.5 year period. Here's what I consider to be the combination of things that I cured myself with:
- Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy. This alone probably won't cure you, but it will teach you how to manage your flares, and reduce them over time.
- Exercise. Walking a couple/few miles almost every day. If you're in the flare phase, just walk - no running. Work out if you want, but don't do leg presses.
- Zyflamend (a formulation containing 10 different herbs). Take as directed. Takes the edge off of the nagging pain.
- Meditation - deep breathing, and guided meditation.
- Lifestyle changes: Let go of things that cause you grief. That can mean people, bad habits, foods, jobs, etc. Value yourself.
- Eat healthier. Always a good thing.
- Convince your mind that the pain can't stop you (after you've gotten through the constant flare phase).
- Accept it's not bacteria and that you don't need to keep taking antibiotics.
- Do things you love that mean a lot to you. It helps take your mind off the pain, and fuels the purpose and self love.
- EMDR*. If you can find psychologist trained in this, DO IT. It can't hurt. After my EMDR session I had the biggest drop in pain that I'd ever had - pretty much down to ZERO.
- Bonus: Love yourself, give yourself a break. Quit beating yourself up with guilt. Do the right things going forward. If you cheated on a girlfriend (which I did not, but I see many of you did and started having pain) forgive yourself and move on, and don't do it again.
Best wishes, and remember it gets better.
Brant
* Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing is a form of psychotherapy in which the person being treated is asked to recall distressing images; the therapist then directs the person in one type of bilateral sensory input, such as side-to-side eye movements or hand tapping